I recently employed Chinese symbolism in producing five newly designed packs of cards. Images of all of the cards were published by Amazon, introducing new concepts in the design of playing cards. Now I have progressed further in designing three more card packs largely inspired by Chinese culture. The first game in this book, Fortune Stars, is based on my drawings of the Five Stars of Good Fortune, Lu Xing the Star of Emolument and High Salaries, Fu Xing the Star of Good Fortune, Shou Xing the Star of Longevity, Xi Shen the God of Happiness and Cai Shen the God of Wealth. I have emphasized the relationship of these five with the Five Elements of ancient Chinese Daoism in their Generating Arrangement which in turn can be related to the five ancient Greek Elements (including Ether or Spirit). The alignment of these concepts goes further and includes the five seasons, directions, and mountains of Daoism as well as the Five Great Ancient Capitals of China. The Four Great Heavenly Kings found in most Chinese temples and the Earth God plus the five legendary emperors of ancient China are additional groups of five forming suits in this new card pack. Then the five Chinese planets known in antiquity, together with the five Western planets, are aligned with the five animals of the Fortune Stars and their five symbols of prosperity.

Finally the five auspicious animals, including the mythical qi lin, golden money toad and dragon tortoise, contribute to this new concept in playing cards making 14 suits in all, with 5 cards in each displaying vivid images of Chinese culture. The next pack of cards in this book, Immortals, is devoted to the Eight Immortals of Daoism together with their Eight Ritual Implements. These are then related to the Eight Auspicious Buddhist Treasures as well as the Eight Trigrams (or Ba Gua) of Earlier Heaven and Later Heaven and the Eight Martial Arts Trigrams. They make 6 suits of eight cards in a colourful game, shining light on deeply held Chinese beliefs of a thousand years ago, many of which continue to sustain credence today. The third pack of cards, Dragon Sons, has five suits with nine cards in each. One suit contains images of the Nine Sons of the Dragon, many of which are still visible as sculptures on rooftops and in doorways of ancient buildings. A second suit displays images of the Nine Great Emperors representing the Nine Northern Dipper Stars. The third and fourth suits are devoted to the Nine Chinese Imperial Civil and Military Rank insignia.

These large, colourful, rank badges, measuring about 10 or 11 inches square, covered the chest of senior Chinese civil and military personnel up to 1911 when the Qing Dynasty was overthrown. They may interest collectors of military insignia and students of the armed forces and uniforms of the old imperial powers. Then a fifth suit displays the Chinese single-digit numbers 1 to 9 which are found on mah-jong tiles. Those who have previously purchased The Invention of Playing Cards in China, their Arrival in Europe and their Role in the Development of Mahjong or New Concepts in Playing Cards and Tarot: Five Newly Designed Packs of Cards with Chinese Symbolism, may like to include this new volume in their collection.